On the trajectory planning of a planar elastic manipulator under gravity

Feedforward control design of flexible robot can take advantage of planning algorithm. In this paper two such algorithms have been presented-one is fo r static case and the other is for dynamic case. Both the algorithms are it erative in nature and are computationally based on the minimization of posi tion or tracking error defined at the end-effector level. The algorithms ar e simple but computationally expensive. The performance is tested on a plan ar two-link arm through simulation and the results show the capability of t he methods to compensate error due to deflection of the flexible links at t he time of static condition of positioning and to track a given trajectory effectively at the time of dynamic condition of tracking under end kinemati c constraints.